


Close Encounter

by MarzgaPerez



Category: Mulan (1998)
Genre: Coming of Age, F/M, Feelings Realization, Male Anatomy Reference, Mild Humor, Missing Scene, Other, Sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 20:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10446957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarzgaPerez/pseuds/MarzgaPerez
Summary: After Mulan's near-naked episode with fellow soldiers in the lake, she later returns in search of her hair-tie, only to discover Li Shang taking a dip...





	

Mulan finished wrapping her chest and then she covered up with her tunic, tightening the belt around her waist. She looked around for her hair-tie, but it was no where in sight.

"Shoot! I must have left it at the lake."

She was just about to ask Mushu to retrieve it when she noticed he was deep in slumber. Mulan sighed.

Peering out of the flaps of her tent and seeing that most of the men had returned from the lake and were now [thankfully] clothed, Mulan decided it was safe to go back on her own.

On her way there, she couldn't halt the images of naked soldiers running through her mind. She'd never seen that amount of male flesh all at once, young and old, from pale beige skin to dark brown, some toned and some sagging. Oh, the sagging...and the hair...and those drooping things...

Her grandmother had once told Mulan about how men's and women's bodies were made to go together in order to further mankind. Mulan had brushed it off, thinking that she was too young to worry with such things, but then her mother had spoken to her about it a few days before she went to see the matchmaker.

"Mulan, once you are married, you will belong to your husband, and he will want to create a lineage with you."

"I don't know if I want children so soon. And I don't know if I'm ready to be with a man...like that."

"My dear, you must accept what your husband wishes. And hopefully he will be kind and gentle. Like your father was with me."

 _Kind and gentle_. She knew her mother was trying to be reassuring, but Mulan didn't like to think about her parents doing those things.

And now she hoped to avoid seeing any more naked men for awhile. So she was relieved to arrive near the lake to the sounds of only birds and still water instead of shouting and splashing and rough housing.

Mulan checked around the bushes for her hair-tie but was not having any luck. She crouched down on her knees and began moving her fingers through the tall grass when she heard a low humming coming from the lake.

She quietly moved to hide behind a bush and slowly pulled the branches down to observe who or what was making that sound.

And it turned out to be a who - Captain Shang. _Darn it!_  Mulan found herself fixated on him and unable to look away.

The sun was setting behind the water, and every inch of Shang, at least from his torso up, was visible above the water and somehow glistening. She couldn't take her eyes off of the muscular curves in his stomach, the sinews weaving and winding around his arms, and his heaving chest. She gulped as he arched back and dipped his head in the water and then stood up to wring out his long, black hair.

Mulan shook herself from the trance and started to get up and slowly back away unseen and unheard, but just her luck, she stepped onto a branch, snapping it in two, which resulted in Shang calling out. "Who's there?"

Mulan was silent, hoping he would go back to his bath.

"Show yourself, or I will come after you."

When she realized he was moving towards the bank and about to emerge from the water, Mulan replied to his demanding tone. "It's me, Captain. Ping." She stepped out from behind the bushes to meet his gaze and stood at attention, adding an explanation. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just, um, looking for something I left behind."

Mulan noticed a hint of annoyance pass over Shang's face. "Oh. Fine, Ping. And I wasn't startled. I was about to break your neck. Good thing you spoke up."

Mulan deepened her voice. "Of course, Captain. May I return to camp now?"

"Not so fast, Ping. Why don't you join me? We could practice your strokes. You do know how to swim?"

"Yes, Captain, but uh...I've already been in the water once today." Mulan prayed to herself that he was only making a suggestion and not an order.

He waved her away. "Then go. As a matter of fact, I might as well be getting back. Ping, hand me my towel.

And before she realized what was happening, Shang was climbing out of the water and coming towards her. Mulan was again fixated on him, but now there was more to see...much more.

"Ping? Are you alright?" Shang gave her a puzzled look, but Mulan was having trouble speaking. Her heart was beating fast, and she felt a strange tingling sensation permeating throughout her body.

She couldn't remember how, but she spotted his towel and went to grab it. She extended it out to him, looking in another direction, biting her lower lip and trying not to faint.

"Ping. You look different with your hair down...almost like a..."

"Yes, Captain. So I've been told. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"I've seen you watching me, Ping. Admiring my physique. Don't worry. Just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll come into your own soon. Maybe even attract a nice girl to settle down with."

Mulan nodded and caught one last glimpse of Shang's muscular body before he put on his robe and tied back his hair. And then she remembered where she had left her hair-tie. Fastened securely to a tree branch near a large rock so she wouldn't lose it.

"I'll see you back at camp, Captain."

Mulan went to grab her hair-tie and run back to her tent before Shang could say anything more.

What was happening to her? What were these feelings? Surely Shang could see right through her. If not, he'd figure it out eventually. _Great_ , she thought to herself, tiptoeing back into her tent so as not to wake Mushu and curling up on her mat. Now she couldn't shake the image of Shang's naked body from her thoughts. And worst of all, she didn't really want to.


End file.
